Novell Goes Public with MS Patent Agreement Documents

Novell has filed its delayed annual report with the SEC, which includes the technical co-operation and patent agreements it entered into with Microsoft in November 2006.

Novell filed its delayed annual report with the SEC on May 25, including as attachments the technical co-operation and patent agreements it entered into with Microsoft in November 2006.
The 10-K filing for the fiscal year, to Oct. 31, 2006, was delayed as a result of a stock option investigation, which was recently concluded, allowing the company to release its annual report. The entire 10-K filing can be found here.
The text of the 144-page 10-K filing does not get into the specifics of the Microsoft deal, but it does include, subject to some redactions, the full three Microsoft agreement documents: the second amended and restated technical collaboration agreement, the first amended and restated business collaboration agreement and the patent cooperation agreement.

One of the most notable things about the report, according to Pamela Jones Groklaw Web site, is that it explains that Microsoft may be forced to stop distributing SUSE Linux coupons if the current text of the third draft of the GNU GPL (General Public License) 3 is included in the final license.

"If the final version of GPLv3 contains terms or conditions that interfere with our agreement with Microsoft or our ability to distribute GPLv3 code, Microsoft may cease to distribute SUSE Linux coupons in order to avoid the extension of its patent covenants to a broader range of GPLv3 software recipients, we may need to modify our relationship with Microsoft under less advantageous terms than our current agreement, or we may be restricted in our ability to include GPLv3 code in our products, any of which could adversely affect our business and our operating results," the Novell filing said.
"In such a case, we would likely explore alternatives to remedy the conflict, but there is no assurance that we would be successful in these efforts," the filing said.
That may explain why Microsoft has gone on the offensive about the GPLv3 during the past few weeks, claiming that free and open-source software infringes on 235 of its patents and directing its ire at the upcoming open-source license.
Novell, based in Provo, Utah, first said publicly that it planned to release the documents regarding its agreement with Microsoft on May 23 during a panel discussion at the annual Open Source Business Conference in San Francisco, where the question of whether Novells deal with Microsoft was good for open source was being debated.
Asked by eWEEK if it were unusual for a company to make such contracts public, Novell spokesperson Bruce Lowry said that when the agreements were materialas these are for Novell rather than for Microsoftit was standard practice to include them in a companys periodic financial reports.
"We would have done so earlier, but for the stock options review and the fact that we werent filing our periodic reports. Microsoft is certainly aware of this. There are confidential elements in the agreement, and SEC rules allow for redaction of those elements. This is a standard practice in situations like this," Lowry said.
Among other things, companies may redact from their agreements trade secrets and confidential commercial or financial information, including confidential information that refers to specific products or joint work. However, Lowry said, "we believe the text of the agreements, even redacted, will provide important additional detail on the scope of work going on between the two companies."
Novell CEO Ron Hovsepian says he has no regrets about the Microsoft deal. Click here to read more.
Microsoft seemed unconcerned about the release of the agreement documents, with Horacio Gutierrez, vice president of intellectual property and licensing for Microsoft, based in Redmond, Wash., describing the deal as "an historic bridging between the worlds of open-source and proprietary software that was created to address issues of interoperability and intellectual property for our customers."
The agreements greatly enhanced interoperability between Linux and Windows and gave customers greater flexibility in their IT environments, Gutierrez said, noting that the patent cooperation agreement give customers peace of mind and intellectual property assurance regarding patent issues.
"Customers have asked for this type of solution to address their interoperability and IP needs in a mixed-source environment and we are happy to have been able to come to this agreement for the mutual benefit of our customers. We will continue our bridge-building efforts in this area," he said.
Asked about the timing of the 10-K release, ahead of the Memorial Day long weekend, Lowry said this was not intentional but rather "the luck of the draw. When we completed the stock options review Wednesday, we were obligated to file our outstanding financial reports as quickly as possible following that. We also have earnings May 30, which Im sure also had finance pushing hard to get these out the door as soon as we could."
Next Page: Novell acknowledges the realities of competition.

Peter Galli has been a financial/technology reporter for 12 years at leading publications in South Africa, the UK and the US. He has been Investment Editor of South Africa's Business Day Newspaper, the sister publication of the Financial Times of London.

He was also Group Financial Communications Manager for First National Bank, the second largest banking group in South Africa before moving on to become Executive News Editor of Business Report, the largest daily financial newspaper in South Africa, owned by the global Independent Newspapers group.

He was responsible for a national reporting team of 20 based in four bureaus. He also edited and contributed to its weekly technology page, and launched a financial and technology radio service supplying daily news bulletins to the national broadcaster, the South African Broadcasting Corporation, which were then distributed to some 50 radio stations across the country.

He was then transferred to San Francisco as Business Report's U.S. Correspondent to cover Silicon Valley, trade and finance between the US, Europe and emerging markets like South Africa. After serving that role for more than two years, he joined eWeek as a Senior Editor, covering software platforms in August 2000.

He has comprehensively covered Microsoft and its Windows and .Net platforms, as well as the many legal challenges it has faced. He has also focused on Sun Microsystems and its Solaris operating environment, Java and Unix offerings. He covers developments in the open source community, particularly around the Linux kernel and the effects it will have on the enterprise.

He has written extensively about new products for the Linux and Unix platforms, the development of open standards and critically looked at the potential Linux has to offer an alternative operating system and platform to Windows, .Net and Unix-based solutions like Solaris.

His interviews with senior industry executives include Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, Linus Torvalds, the original developer of the Linux operating system, Sun CEO Scot McNealy, and Bill Zeitler, a senior vice president at IBM.

For numerous examples of his writing you can search under his name at the eWEEK Website at www.eweek.com.